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Who do you think is the most important player we drafted in 08?

Curious to see what people think.

2 obvious are, Joe and Ray.

I would say Joe, and honestly its not close, because we know first hand what its like to search a decade for a Legitimate QB, No offense to Ray Rice, i love him, but it seems in today's NFL if you don't have a solid Franchise QB you cant win, and Running backs are almost a dime a dozen in today's NFL.

Its funny to think even though Ray has been a pro bowler, and honestly the best RB we've had since Jamal, We've seen what this offense looks like with a shitty QB, and a hell of a back.

Re: Who do you think is the most important player we drafted in 08?

I think they are both equally important, but Joe Flacco is easily the most important draft pick in the past 4 years. Without Joe, this team probably doesn't go to the playoffs in 4 straight years and Ray Rice probably doesn't enjoy the success that he's had either.

Re: Who do you think is the most important player we drafted in 08?

Right.. the idea is, we've had a great Pro bowl runner before. A lot of people including myself think J Lewis is the best back to ever wear a ravens uniform. Ray Rice is closing the gap at a quick pace, but the offense wasn't nearly as good as it is now with a Great RB, and a horrible QB.

I would go as far as to say, Flacco is the most important pick we've made cine Ray Lewis. If he wins a Ring, he could trump him. In today's NFL you just cant win without a Franchise QB.

Joe and it's not close. We've all seen the results of the combo of an elite defense and an elite running back and a bad qb. We had that mix since 2000, and while it won a Superbowl then, we all know it will likely never do so again.

Joe on the other hand has been a stabilizing force at the most important position in the modern NFL.

He's gone from "along for the ride" to "game manager" to this year which I would classify as "Training wheels off, with the expected bruises and the real possibility of future greatness shown at times."

Having a qb that is, in his worst year, a consensus pick to be ranked in the top half of the league among starters and at his best ( both Pitt games and the Arizona comeback) nigh unbeatable is huge for this franchise. If we could sub out Joe Flacco for Kyle Boller people would be talking about the Ravens dynasty in the 2000s.

Sadly, Joe arrived on the tail end of that defense's dominate run. But the future is clearly pretty damn bright with him at the helm, and while Ray Rice is awesome and without a doubt our best offensive player NOW, I could see the day when the Joe to Torrey connection scares teams much more than the hand off or check down to Little Ray.

I would even go as far as to say Joe is maybe the most important player we've drafted since we won it all.

His main competition in that contest is Ed, Sizzle, and Ngata, and while we all can agree that Flacco isn't performing at their level yet, the fact is that in the modern NFL, a solid qb can win you more games than a superstar on D.

Now obviously I'm not saying Joe is better than any of those guys. What I am saying is that he took over a spot where we traditionally fielded a D minus or worse player and has been a pretty consistent B ever since. That's a huge upgrade compared to the jobs our guys on d took over for.